Fiesta Youth members and supporters march during the 2023 Pride Bigger Than Texas event in San Antonio. Credit: Greg Harman

A coalition of advocacy groups is calling on San Antonio’s queer community to boycott the annual Pride Bigger Than Texas festival this Saturday, alleging the event has become co-opted by politicians and corporations.

The group — which includes the Gay Agenda with Oppressed Revolutionaries for Worker Power, the Autonomous Brown Berets de San Anto and Mujeres Marcharan Coalition — argues that the festival and parade, now celebrating its 21st anniversary, no longer represents the needs of the community.

“Corporations have co-opted our identity for profit,” the coalition wrote in a Friday press statement. “While corporations make millions off of the exploitation of queer people all over the world, they bank off of OUR rainbow.”

Pride San Antonio Inc., which organizes Pride Bigger than Texas, didn’t immediately respond to the Current’s request for comment on the call for a boycott.

In its press statement, the coalition also said San Antonio law enforcement groups shouldn’t be allowed at the festival because of past harassment directed against the LGBTQ+ community.

“For centuries, police have abused queer people and left us behind,” boycott organizers wrote. “These past decades show us why we must abandon the police in our Pride celebrations.”

The group also said it wants:

  • All pride celebrations in San Antonio to be free to attend
  • A larger focus on sobriety and disability access
  • A transparent expense report from the organizers of Pride Bigger Than Texas
  • A clear-cut political agenda from Pride Bigger Than Texas

“Until these demands are met, queers of San Antonio will continue to boycott Pride Bigger Than Texas and organize our own celebration that is by and for our people,” the statement said.

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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 9, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...